Shoe sewing machine



Aug` 23, 1945- v L. L. aFum-:r-g4 2,383,530

- SHOE SEWING MACHINE Filed March 23, 1944 l 5 y [nz/@iz for Louis L.Barner' v BhisAttorney Patented Aug. 28, 1945 UNITED STATES IPATENTOFFICE l l l v 2,383,350

SHOE. lSEWING MAoIiINnV y Louis L. Barner, Endicott, N; Y., assignortoUnited Shoe Machinery Uorporatiom Flemington, N. J., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application March 23, 1944, serial Nt. 527,761

sclaims. (ci. 11a-39)V The present invention relates to improvements inback rests for inseam sewing machines such as are used for sewing uppersto the soles of turn shoes or the welts and uppers to the insoles` ofwelt shoes, examples of this general class of machines being illustratedinvUnited States Letters Patent to Morrill No. 2,041,945, granted May26, 1936, and to Eppler No. 1,108,560, granted August 25, 1914.

A machine ofthe type described inthe patents referred to is equippedwith acurved hook needie, a Welt guide, if a welt shoe is being operatedupon, or a back gage,` if a turn shoe is being operated upon. Witheitherjtype of work the support of the work in the machine frequently issupplemented by the use of a bunter vor back rest contacting the bulgingupper of a shoe close to y and |belowthe point of operation oftheneedle..

As the sewing operation progresses around the shoe, the shoe upper rubsagainst the forward end of the back reist in an irregular manner, theback l rest moving in and out as the shoe is twisted and turned topresent the shoe properly to the needle and frequently marking orotherwise damaging the surface of the upper as it rubs during progressof the operation.

In order to prevent the upper as it rubs along the surface of the backrest from being marked along the upper or otherwise damaged, attemptshave been made heretofore to provide a rotating roll or vothernon-marking shoe y rest. Prior shoe engaging rolls for this purpose`engaging member on the back l have been mounted to rotate on asubstantially l vertical axis so that their outer surfaces will movewithl the shoe as the shoe is fed from one stitch forming position toanother Thus, the

fri-ctional rubbing movement of the bulging shoe upper along therotating back rest member hasy been substantially reduced. It hasbeenfound, however, that the movement of the bulging shoe upper, whilepresenting a shoe to the stitch forming devices of a machine such asdisclosed in the above-noted patents, is o-f a non-linear nature; thesurfaces of the upper moving'vertically and swinging in many directionsabout the point of needle operation so that in spite of the use of aroll 0r other member rotating about a vertical axis on the back rest,the frictional mbbing en gagement of the shoe upper with the rotatingmember is 4not suiiiciently eliminated to `avoid marking or otherwisedamaging the upper of a shoe being operated upon, particularly withthose shoes having light-colored 0r fancy-linished uppers. Furthermore,an upper contacting roll rotating on a vertical axis causes aunidirectional effect,.}resisting vertical movement of the shoe withoutasimilar horizontal resistance, and is not conducive'to easypresentation of the shoe to the machine..

, The object of the present invention is to imyprove generally theconstruction and mode of operation of a welt and turn shoe sewingmachine so thatY the movements in any direction required to present ashoe to the stitch forming devices of the machine during sewing willmeet with less 'resistance than heretofore, while at the same timesubstantially all possibility of markingor otherwise injuring thefinished surface of the bulging shoeupper will be avoided, and,accordingly, the

herein illustrated embodiment of an important featurel of the presentinvention resides in a curved hook, needle inseam sewing machine having`a bunter or back rest slide, at the forward work engaging end of whichthere is rotatablyv `mounteda button having an axis of rotationsubstantially horizontal or substantially parallel to axis, thel buttonwill be caused to rotate during movement of the shoe in one directionwhile the toe -isbeing sewn and in the opposite direction while vtheshank` is being sewn, thus insuring ro- ,r tationof the button withouttendency to abrade,

mark or otherwise injure the upper at any time. Between the times thetoe and the shank of the shoe are being operated upon, the uppercovering theball portion of a shoe contacts the back rest. The upperinthe ball portion of the shoe merges Withthe toe and shank portions andusually is characterized by rapidly changing curvatures. In ordertopresent., the shoev properly to thestitch :formingv devices,particularly along the ball portion, `it is thepractice `for an operatorto turn the shoe-somewhat in anticipation of the approach of thesecurvatures. Turning the shoe in this way causes the point of contactbetween the shoe upper and 'the` button on the back rest, according to.this feature of the invention, naturally to be located somewhat aheadof the rotary axis of the button. In sewing along the ball portion ofthe shoe, the' curvature of the shoe bottom requiresalso a swingingmovement about a horizontal axis passing through the sewing point,

resulting in a vertical movement of the upper along the point of contactwith the back rest where the contact point is ahead of the sewing point.

With the upper contacting the button at a point ahead of the rotary axisof the button, vertical movement of the upper surface at the point ofcontact will cause the button-to rotate. rather: 3 than rub along thesurface of the upper, as in the case of a xed back rest or a rollrotating on a vertical axis. Also, it is along the ball portion of mithe shoe that the greatest vertical and swinging.. movements arerequired to present the shoe properly to the operating devices. fsWhile.sewing along the ball portion, due to the increasing bulgef oi the upperbeyond the edge of the shoe bottom, l

the point of contact between thebutton-.and:.the f upper changes andmoves from a'position above the rotary axis of the button to apositionbelowL i the. rotaryaxis. As a result, the button changes,...its direction of rotation gradually... In addtiun.

because of the vertical curvature..4 of the. shoe.. bottom, the forwardlinear movement of the upper.

along `the point. of contact. .withE the .back rest.. terminatestemporarily,. and .the shoedsgiven an easy` unresisted swinging..movement. aboutlthej..

point of sewingoperations..

Theseand othenfeaturesof thejinvention consist oflcertain.constructions, arrangements and combinations .of parts. the.advantages .of which'.

will be clearly. .understoo.d.from. the` following..

description taken in connectionwith. the @accompanying drawing, in,which Fig. 1 is a view in rightahandside elevation; of a portion of ashoe. se .ng.machine. embodying the present invention;

Fig. .2 is a detail View on 4anenlarged.Sca-le of some Aof the partsofthe machine .illustrated in Fig. 1, togetherwitha shoe shown in section.in operating position .whilesewing .along the 'shank of theshoe; r

Fig. 3 is.a.similar. view, illustrating the positions of the parts while.the .toe.of theshoe .is being sewn;

Fig. 4 tions of the backrest but is a detail .plan View,illustratingtheposirelation to a shoe while sewing at the ball line oithe shoe; and

Fig; 5 is a deta thepoint. of contactof the 'surface of ashoe upperwhile sewing along the ball portion of. the'shoe.

The machine. illustrated in the'drawingis intended to sew a welt to aGoodye'artypeof shoe I and is provided` with .the usual stitch formingontal .guideway as will be described morefully hereinafter.

The forward end of the .back restslide of the.

machine embodying the. presentv inventionljs formed with an offset lug I6 having avertical slot. I1 into which is adjustably clamped afbushingI8. The bushing I 8 rotatably lreceives a 'horizontal spindle20 attached4at its forward end to or ton in the machine with :j l

il View in elevation, indicating 6; a channel guide. 8, a welt back rest.or bunter slide I2 L ymechanism I3 simi- .2.157,-.g1anted Jurre. 8,1915,. ativemachine .also are the. patents. except,. for the workengaging end of the. back rest slide,

integral with a convex button 22 the exposed surface of which comprisesa segment of a sphere. On the forward face of the lug I6 is a thrustbearing plate 24 against which is pressed a 5 shoulder 26 beneath thebutton, acting to space the` button 22 from the thrust plate 24.

For convenience in assembling the parts, the thrust plate 24 is formedintegrally with the bushing I8 and the rearward endy of the bushingthreadedly receives a clamp nut 28 acting against a washer 30 to securethe thrust plate and bushi ing l.to the .lug I6. For retaining thespindle against lengthwise movement in the bushing, the rearward fend'ofthe 'spindle is threaded inter- 15 inallyi'and a'screw `32 entering thethreaded p0rtion of the spindle 4has a head projecting radially from theaxis ofthe spindle sufciently to overlap the internal diameter of thebushing.

Tharrangement of the lug I6 and the bushing 2.0 I8 is such as to holdthe spindle. on a horizontal rotary. axis,.indicated at 34, parallel tothe move.-

ments .of the slide I 2 and vertically. spaced within a plane -36 dened.by the/needle, said axis lying...

outside the. needlearc y.beneathan'd.parallel to a'. line tangent to the.nearest portion .ofthe needle-ffl.

which .engages the shoe.` V.The .upper .of a shoe presented tothemachinecontacts the surface of the button at the intersection of a line 38(Fig. 3) ,-f

above. the. axis .34 of the spindle while sewing.

about thetoe -of the shoe. While sewingl alongi.,

the.shank of the shoe (Fig. .2) ,the button .will

engage lthe. upper at the. intersection of a line 40 belowthe rotary,axisof the button. Hence, in

these .two sewingpositions of the. shoe', the button .35 willbe rotatedin opposite directionsas indicated.

by the two arrows in Figs. 2 and. Between,...

thesesewing positions, illustratedin Fig. .4, in

order to present. theshoe properly to thevstitch forming devices, thegreatestdegree of angular...

40 or swinging movement isimparted. by reasonof the bottomcurvaturealong the ball portion.

The swinging movement of the. shoe, aboutan...v

I approximately. horizontal axis .while sewing I,.tl'ie.

ball portion in approaching the shank, as shown. in Fig. 5, is ofsufficient extent to cause the.upper.,. v

along that area contacted .by ,theback rest .to terminate .temporarilyits forward linear ...movei ment and, particularly with. high-,archshoes,.to reverse its .linear ,movement slightly.. Reversal...

of the linear movement'in that .area of the upper,

contacted by the .back rest. causes the button 22M.

alsoto reverse its directionof rotation... Asthe.

sewing continues .along the `ball portion of-the.

shoe, .thepointof engagement between the upper...

and the button moves downwardly past therotary axis of saidbutton ,atthat sideof the button axis, .l with respect to the .directionoffeed,.in advance..

.f of the. button .axis,. as indicated by the .arrow in Fig.l 5..Whenthesewing along the ballportion., y

e0 of the shoeisnearly completed, the point of con.

tact4 .42 of theuppen with the. button is at the.

intersectionof the..linev 4,4 with the. upper, in Figs. .4. and 5, belowthe rotary axis, with. respect tothe direction of feed, and, since thecurvature...

of the. shoe bottom is such as to requireno fur-.

ther substantialswnging.movement in present-y. i ing the toeof the shoeVto the stitch forming .de-,2.

vices,.there..will be butlittle change in the`.poi nt.

of contact -between the upper and the button. 7.0 Eventual1y,..when the`shank of the. shoe :is

ton is reversed, in the manner described, twice reached,- the point y.of contact 42. y between -the upper. and the buttonwill. travel .to aposition... more nearly directlybelow the button axisin line., with thesewing point.. The rotation of thebut-f.l

during each sewing operation, once after starting, while leaving theshank, and again upon reentering the opposite side of the shank.

To prevent indentation of the upper while, at the same time, avoidingthe possibility of contact between the relatively sharp edges of thebutton and the upper, the spherical upper engaging surface of the button22 is made with a suiciently large radius to engage a substantial areaon the surface of the bulging shoe upper. By providing a substantialarea of contact, not only is indentation avoided but also the pressureof the upper against any unit area of the button is kept below thatwhich will cause appreciable marking of the v upper or injurious effectsfrom abrasion between the upper and the surface of the button, even whenthe button is composed of relatively soft metal. Furthermore, the upperengaging surface of the button is finished with a smooth polish so thatrotation at the point of engagement With the upper has no substantialinjurious effect.

The use of a button of this nature, located and arranged as indicated,avoids nearly all resistance to the positioning movements of the shoewhile presenting it toy the machine, such as occur when a stationarywork engaging member is provided on the back rest slide. Also, with thebutton rotating about a horizontal axis, there is no substantialtendency for the shoe, while its position is being changed during sewingoperations, to deviate from the desired `direction of movements as aresult of directional eiects from rotation of a roll on a vertical axis,the surface of which acts to steer the shoe along a right line passingthrough the point of contact.

The nature and scope of invention having been indicated' and a preferredembodiment having been specifically described, what is claimed is:

l. An inseam shoe sewing machine having stitch forming devices includinga curved hook needle, and a back rest slide, in combination with abutton rotatable on the slide about an axis substantially parallel to aline tangent to that portion of the needle engaging the Work.

2. An inseam shoe sewing machine having stitch forming devices includinga curved hook needle, and a back rest slide, in combination with abutton rotatable on the slide about an axis substantially below andparallel to a line tangent to that portion of the needle engaging thework.

3. An inseam shoe sewing machine having stitch forming devices includinga curved hook needle, and a back rest slide, in combination with abutton rotatable on the slide about an axis substantially parallel to aline tangent to that portion of the needle engaging the work and spacedbelow the needle sufficiently to cause the face of the button to engagethe bulging upper of a shoe being sewn above the axis of the buttonwhile sewing the toe portion of the shoe and below the axis of thebutton while sewing the shank of the shoe.

4. An inseam shoe sewing machine having stitch forming devices includinga curved hook needle, and fa back rest slide, in combination with abutton rotatable on the slide about an axis substantially parallel to aline tangent to that portion of the needle engaging the work and in theplane of the needle outside the needle arc.

5. An inseam sewing machine having stitch forming devices including acurved hook needle, and a back rest slide, in combination with a buttonhaving a convex face rotatable on the slide.

about an axis substantially parallel to the movements of the slideduring sewing operations.

6. An inseam shoe sewing machine having stitch forming devices includinga curved hook needle, and a back rest slide, in combination with a workengaging button mounted for rotation on the back rest slide having forits work engaging surface a segment of a sphere so located and ofsuiiicient area to enable the point of engagement of the shoe to moveacross the rotary axis of the button during sewing operations.

, y LOUIS L. BARNER.

